Rich Westlake balances a bag on his head. Brandywine Community Church held a World Renewal Missions Fair. The event help showcase different countries mission work and ministries.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
GREENFIELD — Rich Westlake balanced the black bag on 6-year-old Naomi Salazar’s head and encouraged her to walk a few feet away and return.
The bag was lightweight — filled with wiffle balls, he said — but meant to offer a glimpse into life in another country, in this case Burundi.
“The African kids … you see the kids walking around carrying stuff on their head,” Westlake said.
He and his wife, Ellen, showed information and videos about Burundi to people attending a World Renewal missions fair Wednesday.
The mission agency with headquarters east of Greenfield has an annual celebration reflecting on the past year of ministry and showing appreciation for those engaged in the work. World Renewal works and/or partners in about 60 countries.
At the missions fair, people could eat beans and rice — frequent fare in some countries. They also mingled amid tables highlighting life and ministry in Mexico, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Spain and elsewhere.
Children could try writing Israeli letters or playing mancala, a game popular in India. They received “passports” when they arrived, to be stamped as they visited each country’s table.
“We wanted to learn about what God’s doing around the world,” said Mary Salazar as she circulated the booths with Naomi and son Micah, 8. “… We just finished the story of Lillian Trasher, who was a missionary to Egypt in the early 1900s, and telling them we get to meet real-life missionaries … they’re really excited.”
Later, some of those present-day ministry leaders shared stories in a service. The celebration theme was “Growing the Next Generation,” and speakers were symbolic of that theme.
Assuerio Naque talked about growing up in Brazil and those who invested in his development as a Christian leader.
“We had no idea what God was going to do with our lives,” he said, through an interpreter, as he spoke in Portuguese to ministry supporters.
He talked about meeting children roaming the streets in Brazil and starting a program, Living Stones, for them to have a hot meal, help with schoolwork, and a safe place to go when not in school. That developed into friendships with their families and the start of churches.
Years later, Naque is involved in leadership development to support churches in Mozambique, a country in southeast Africa.
Ricardo Silva also grew up in Brazil. He remains there, pastoring churches and training new leaders as more churches are established. He showed slides as he spoke about the next generation, such as a young girl who inspired the rest of her family to come to church with her; the whole family was recently baptized. He talked about new pastors installed in growing churches. He also told of a woman who was part of a Living Stones program as a child and now works with one today.
He said these stories have unfolded amid partnership between churches in different countries. He encouraged people to continue to pray for, financial support and visit the work overseas.
“Please don’t stop … We are a team,” he said. “Please continue to do what God is calling you to do.”
At his missions fair table earlier in the evening, Rich Westlake expressed hope that children stopping by would grow in their understanding of the world. He and his wife shared information about their daughter and son-in-law, Michelle and Josh Krumenacher, and the work they and their three sons do in Burundi ministering to widows and orphans.
He hoped children would see “how other kids are over there ministering, and … get a love for the world,” he said. “Not just for America, but a love for the world — the kids of the world.”
